Due to complexity, time-consuming processes, and high in-house costs, many organizations in the oil and gas industry prefer to outsource Information Technology (IT). Besides cost savings, partnering with a managed service provider (MSP) for IT outsourcing for the oil and gas industry enables organizations to leverage various resources, skillsets, and professional expertise. This allows scalability and reliability, enhances cybersecurity, and supports organizations in improving their productivity and growth.
Why Oil & Gas Companies Outsource IT
Like other industries, the Oil & Gas (O&G) industry also outsources IT services from reliable MSPs to cope with the fast-changing IT industry. To survive and thrive, the majority of organizations in the O&G sector choose MSPs along with their in-house IT department. Organizations depend on managed IT services firms for IT outsourcing for the oil and gas industry to consult, recommend, install, update, and support the technology that aligns with their business goals. Let’s learn how IT outsourcing for the oil and gas industry can influence Oil and Gas organizations.
Digital Workforce Management
Most O&G organizations face challenges in managing their workforce due to their high number of employees and training them as well. MSPs can help organizations through their digital workforce management system. Your managed service provider can create software solutions using artificial intelligence (AI), IoT, and other technologies for employee supervision, assign responsibilities, improve collaboration and communication between workers, and track their activity.
Drilling Operations Management
Experienced MSPs can help their oil and gas drilling clients to increase their productivity by utilizing the latest technology. MSPs can inform organizations about the latest technological solutions that can help minimize production costs, system failures, and downtime and optimize performance. MSPs also take care of existing hardware and software, update them as needed, and maintain them.
Asset Management
For every organization, asset management plays a crucial role in improving operational efficiency. Experienced managed service providers can provide customized solutions to oil drilling companies of any size to achieve optimal productivity. With effective asset management measures, MSPs can minimize downtime, which helps to improve ROI. MSPs also help organizations to comply with legal and regulatory standards, conduct internal audits at regular intervals, and manage resources. With efficient asset management solutions, oil and gas companies can run with better safety, improved performance, and reduced operational risk.
Layered Cybersecurity
Oil and gas companies rely on highly connected data and control systems to smoothly run the whole process — exploration, drilling, system monitoring, and optimized production from onshore and offshore resources. Like other industries, the oil and gas industry has become the target of highly sophisticated cyber attacks. Fast adaptation of multiple technologies and system automation has also introduced some cybersecurity threats into operations. Plus, lack of employee awareness and inappropriate training on particular software has also widened the entry point for cybersecurity attacks for organizations of all sizes.
When you recruit a managed IT service provider for IT outsourcing for the oil and gas industry, they evaluate your whole system and suggest an appropriate cybersecurity plan considering every essential aspect of your business. First, they understand your security needs and devise a plan that suits you the best. MSPs also provide 24/7 IT infrastructure monitoring services that help to identify most of the invasion attempts and proactively implement remedies to stop them. A customized IT Managed Services package for your organization can block or lower the risk of experiencing a cyber attack.
Expert IT Support
Hiring in-house IT professionals can be expensive. Recruiting an internal IT team involves both recruitment and retention costs. Experienced and skilled IT experts are always in high demand, and hiring them in-house is also costly. Plus, there is always a chance of them quitting the job. But, partnering with MSPs has no such risk. The service company will be bound to provide you with experts for respective services.
When companies choose to invest in technology with a vendor, there is a common problem that the technology is not performing at its full potential. As a result, the company has to bear continuous, unnecessary spending.
In most cases, the internal IT team mainly focuses on supporting the organization’s day-to-day needs and maintaining the present state. Usually, they don’t get opportunities to stretch beyond the day-to-day operations and look for the latest relevant technology and best practices to improve productivity, minimize losses, etc.
Companies can get a complete IT infrastructure assessment by partnering with an MSP. They will also help to develop a strategic investment plan to improve the IT environment of the business. The experts of MSPs will help you assess current and future technology needs, implement particular technology, and improve efficiency and productivity.
Several oil and gas companies are partnering with IT service providers to leverage the latest technologies and improve productivity. Besides technical support, MSPs can also help streamline and simplify the hiring process, training and certification process, and overall IT team management. Specializing in the oil and gas industry, MSPs can suggest innovative solutions for the industry, new technology, and cybersecurity defenses to optimize productivity.
Fleet Management Systems
Managed services firms for oil and gas companies also provide fleet management solutions. This service helps organizations to maintain a stable connection between their fleet and control center to monitor drivers’ behavior when in transit. MSPs also provide services like maintenance, automated safety inspections, real-time monitoring, and communication with drivers. Implementing fleet management services helps improve the workflow through seamless management of mobile assets.
Operational Analytics
An MSP can also do the most out of your data and try to come up with the best data analytics solutions to help companies in decision-making and facilitate operations management. MSPs accumulate data from different systems, do a thorough analysis, and offer effective solutions to reduce production costs, optimize drilling processes, conduct preventive maintenance, and improve safety during the drilling and transportation of petroleum products.
Conclusion
When recruiting an IT outsourcing company for the oil and gas industry, you need to evaluate various MSPs specialized in serving oil and gas companies, consider their knowledge and expertise as it relates to your industry, and try to get feedback from the market. It will help you to gain access to a team that can provide valuable insight to improve your business and help you implement proven processes in your organization.
